


A Kiss for Every Occasion

by Lady_Clara



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: 5+1 Things, Developing Relationship, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route, Fluff and Angst, Hand Kisses, Kissing, M/M, Post-Canon, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Pre-Canon, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Scar kisses, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-17 00:46:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29091501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Clara/pseuds/Lady_Clara
Summary: Five times Dimitri kissed Dedue, and the one time he did so in front of all of Fódlan.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Dedue Molinaro
Comments: 5
Kudos: 31





	A Kiss for Every Occasion

**1\. A Kiss to Heal**

“How are you feeling?”

The question from the Faerghan prince returns Dedue to reality. He does not know how long he has been staring off into the distance sitting in the chair next to the prince’s bedside, but the concerned look he’s getting tells him he must have been in that state for a while again.

The past week has been a nightmarish blur. He does not know how to answer the prince’s question. His silence must concern the prince more, because Dimitri winces as he brings himself up to a seated position on the bed. Dedue throws his arms out to steady him, but the boy waves it off.

“Do not worry, Dedue,” he says. “My wounds are not unbearable. The knowledge that you are in pain, in your heart, hurts far worse.”

Dedue does not want to worry the boy who saved him, but he does not want to deny the truth of his words, either. He stays silent.

“Do you need any of your bandages redressed?” Dimitri asks. “I can change the one on your brow, if you’d like.”

“It is not necessary,” Dedue answers. “You will worsen your injuries if you move too much.”

Dimitri folds his hands in his laps and looks down at them. The silence stretches on. It is clear the prince is thinking through what he wants to say next.

“Before she passed,” Dimitri says quietly, still looking down at his hands, “my mother said a kiss could aid in healing a wound.” He moves his eyes up to Dedue’s brow. “…May I try?”

Dedue would hesitate if it was anyone else in Fhirdiad’s castle asking this. But the boy in front of him saved his life, and has promised to protect him. In fact, he has refused to let Dedue leave his sight out of fear that harm would befall him. He has made a genuine effort to help him.

So, Dedue nods and leans his head towards the prince.

Slowly, Dimitri leans forward as well and places his lips on the bandage near Dedue’s brow. After all of the angry stares he has been met with this week, the softness of the action almost brings Dedue to tears.

A few seconds later, Dimitri sits back and searches Dedue’s face.

“I wish there was more I could do for you, Dedue. In the future, when I am king, I will do everything in my power to aid in your wellbeing. For now, though, I hope that will suffice.”

Hope has been hard to come by, but Dimitri is showing him kindness, and he’ll take whatever small comfort he can in the aftermath of the unthinkable. Perhaps a kiss on the brow can begin the healing process.

* * *

**2\. A Kiss of Friendship**

It is early enough in the morning that the training grounds are completely empty save for Dimitri and Dedue. They are two of the earliest risers at Garreg Mach Monastery, which allows them ample time for uninterrupted training sessions. They’ve just finished a rather grueling one in preparation for their next mission as part of the Officers Academy when Dimitri makes a suggestion.

“Come, let us write out next month’s training plan in the upstairs study.”

Dedue shifts his feet. “There are nobles who frown upon the presence of commoners in that study, even if they are the vassal to a prince.”

Dimitri’s face falls, then becomes stern. “To your first point, I am sorry there are still ignorant nobles who think themselves better because of their status. If there are any currently in the study, rest assured that I will warn them to mind their attitude. To your second point…” His shoulders sag. “Dedue, how many times must I tell you that you are my friend, not simply a vassal?”

“Your Highness…”

Dimitri shakes his head. “I implore you. You need only address me as ‘Dimitri,’ not with some sort of detached honorific. I may be a prince, but most importantly, I am someone you can call a friend.”

Dimitri takes hold of Dedue’s hands and continues. “I consider you my dear friend, Dedue. I hope one day you can consider me the same.”

Dedue looks down at the ground. He hopes for the same, but does not expect that day to come.

Then, Dimitri does something unexpected. He brings Dedue’s hands to his lips.

The softness of the kiss on his hand is in stark contrast to the intensity Dedue just witnessed in this morning’s training. It is reverent and sweet, and Dedue’s hands go rigid from the fondness behind it. Dimitri does not balk at his chafed knuckles, does not grimace at the scraped skin on his fingers.

He removes his lips and smiles. “I have always admired your hands,” he says. “You use them to give life to flowers, and to weave formless string into extraordinary art.” His expression turns regretful. “I am sorry that I have asked you to use them for fighting.”

“You did not ask,” Dedue informs him. “I volunteered to take up an axe for you.”

Dimitri grips Dedue’s hands more tightly. “One day, when peace has been restored, you will be able to use your hands freely to create all of the beautiful things you desire to create. You will never again have to use them to destroy.”

Dedue can tell Dimitri believes wholeheartedly in this promise. And with the feeling of Dimitri’s lips lingering on his hands, Dedue chooses to believe in it, too.

* * *

**3\. A Kiss on the Bridge**

This is not how Dedue envisioned their reunion.

He has been following leads as to Dimitri’s whereabouts for what seems like an eternity, and now that he has successfully located his classmates and their leader in the heat of battle on the Bridge of Myrddin, he realizes how different the tableau of reality is from the one he had in his mind.

The man before him is clearly Dimitri. Dedue would be able to identify him no matter what. But his relief at seeing the one he cares for with all his heart gives way almost immediately to horror and concern. There is sharp rage in Dimitri’s movements, and when he turns around to face Dedue for the first time in years, there is deep hollowness in his eyes – no, just one eye. It appears he lost the other. Dedue curses himself for not being there to prevent that from happening.

The hollowness is all Dedue can think about for the rest of the battle. His body carries him mechanically through axe swing after axe swing as he makes his way through enemies, but he hardly acknowledges it. His mind is too wrapped up in conjuring the awful scenarios that must have occurred for Dimitri to now look and act this way.

In the end, the Blue Lions emerge from the battle victorious, though Dimitri wears no smile. He tells his troops to go on ahead, that he has business to attend to first. And then he turns to Dedue once everyone is out of earshot.

“You died five years ago…” Even his voice sounds hollow and dark.

Dedue explains how he was saved by men of Duscur after they were separated, but Dimitri simply stares back at him without any changes in his expression. Dedue wonders if Dimitri hears the explanation at all.

“…Allow me to once again act as your sword and shield,” he says after some time has passed without reply.

Dimitri still stares at him. Then, he takes a breath, lifts his hands up, and touches Dedue’s face as if he is making sure Dedue is real and alive in front of him.

That is when Dedue realizes Dimitri believes him to be an apparition here to haunt him. That sinks his heart even further.

He is not sure what to say to convince him that he is in fact alive, so he settles for “I am here,” and he means it in every sense.

Dimitri blinks, and then leans forward to kiss the scar at Dedue’s temple. Then the one at his brow. Then the one on his chin, his cheek. They are not like the gentle kisses Dimitri once placed upon his hands at the training grounds. They are meant to feel if Dedue is real and whole underneath his lips, as if he is still not sure Dedue is truly in front of him or if he’s just a specter.

When Dimitri steps back, Dedue notices he has grown taller since the last time they were together. He also notices a shine starting to replace the hollowness in his eye.

“Do not ever throw your life away again,” Dimitri tells him with a voice that is starting to tremble. “Understood?”

“Your Highness…”

 _It would not be ‘throwing my life away,_ ’ Dedue thinks, but he has just been reunited with a loved one and does not wish to argue about semantics. Besides, his mind is circulating with the reminder that even though they are in the middle of a war, Dimitri cares far more about Dedue’s safety and wellbeing than his ability to help him towards victory. That fills Dedue’s heart with awe.

He nods. “Understood.”

It is only after they have departed the bridge to catch up with their allies that Dedue feels a tingling sensation where Dimitri’s lips traced his scars.

* * *

**4\. A Kiss at the End of the War**

The battle in Enbarr is over, and the war is won.

Dedue considers himself lucky to have sustained only one serious injury from a dark magic attack. It is not a critical injury, and Mercedes’s healing has brought him back to much better health; yet still, Dimitri visits him in Fhirdiad’s infirmary every hour without fail despite the many, many tasks he must do now that he is king of Fódlan.

“I am fine,” Dedue reassures Dimitri from the chair Mercedes has placed in front of the window overlooking the castle garden. It is a small garden as of now, but Dedue enjoys looking out at it and envisioning how he can grow it into something beautiful. “There are more important matters that require your attention.”

Dimitri stands at his side, careful not to block his view, and places a warm hand on his shoulder. “Your wellbeing is of the utmost important.”

Dedue looks up and Dimitri and smiles. He joins his hand with Dimitri’s at his shoulder.

Dimitri smiles in return and looks out the window. “When you are feeling up to it, I will help you plant whatever you wish to have in that garden. Flowers, fruit trees, herbs – whatever you envision, I will make it so.”

They will be able to do it now that there is peace.

“We are alive, Dedue,” he says in a soft voice.

“Yes.”

Dimitri gets down on his knees, then, and hugs Dedue’s legs. Dedue almost jolts at how unexpected it is. His hair tickles his shin. What a sight it must be – a king down on his knees showing reverence to his vassal.

He lifts his head and kisses Dedue’s knee. The action is so sweet and tender that Dedue feels it healing him better than any salve could.

“You are alive,” Dimitri states.

“That is in many parts thanks to you.”

Dimitri shakes his head. “No, I am the one who must thank _you_ for ensuring my safety.”

A small laugh escapes Dedue. He knows their friendship well enough to know that they could volley thank-yous at each other all afternoon. Instead of going back and forth for the rest of Dimitri’s visit, he simply cards his fingers through Dimitri’s hair and undoes a tangle in it.

Dimitri lets another kiss linger on Dedue’s knee.

* * *

**5\. A Kiss in Peaceful Times**

Their clothing may be covered in sand, but Dedue will worry about that later. For now, he just wants to admire the sight of Dimitri lying on the beach, sunlight dancing across his hair, laughing next to him as the Sea of Duscur laps at their ankles.

“The face you make when the water reaches our feet is fascinating, Dedue. You truly cannot withstand the chill of it?”

Dimitri’s smiles are infectious, and Dedue smiles along with him despite the cold. He angles his legs further away from the reach of the ocean waves. “No.”

Dimitri rolls over onto his side and grins. “Perhaps I can assist in keeping you warm.” He inches forward and wraps his arms around Dedue. Having his smiling face so close chases away any remaining cold Dedue might have felt.

He puts his arms around Dimitri and hugs him back. “You have always kept me warm.”

Dimitri hums into his shoulder.

Dedue had hoped he would see a day like this. A day where he and Dimitri were happier and healthier, able to enjoy a sunny day visiting a happier and healthier and independent Duscur. The reality of it is even more beautiful than what he had imagined.

“I love you, Dimitri,” he says, and the words taste wonderful on his tongue.

Dimitri shivers in his arms, but not from the cold. He lifts his head and plants a kiss on Dedue’s cheek. Dedue knows he intended to kiss him gently, but it’s Dimitri in the heat of the moment, meaning it lands fierce. Dedue certainly isn’t complaining about that.

“I love you, too, Dedue.”

* * *

**\+ 1. A Kiss in Matrimony**

Neither Dedue nor Dimitri are too fond of large, elaborate gatherings, but the people of Fódlan have been eagerly awaiting a happy celebration, and what could be happier than a royal wedding?

No one was more excited for this day than their former classmates Mercedes, Annette, and Ashe, who arranged all of the food and decorations surrounding them – with the exception of the flowers, which Dedue of course picked out himself.

Archbishop Byleth presides over the ceremony. The cheers of the crowd may be noisy, but Dedue only hears Dimitri reciting his vows as if his voice is the only sound in existence.

And then, with the Archbishop’s blessing, they share their first kiss as a married couple in front of the vast number of wedding attendees.

Dimitri’s lips have graced Dedue’s skin on several occasions throughout his life, but to have their lips pressed together, sweet and honest and with all the fondness in the world, is the greatest kiss of all.

**Author's Note:**

> 5+1 fics are a lot of fun, so I figured I'd write one! I hope you enjoyed it :)


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